Kevin Smith alleges Harvey Weinstein didn’t want to pay star Robin Williams his due, and so deliberately sabotaged the film’s theatrical success.
Kevin Smith, who was a producer on 1997’s Good Will Hunting, has claimed that former head of Miramax and now convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein deliberately sabotaged the film’s success in cinemas to prevent paying Robin Williams, the film’s star, what he was due to earn.
Weinstein, states Smith, pulled the film from cinemas whilst it was still taking in great box office, simply because he didn’t want Williams to start earning a bigger split of every dollar the movie grossed.
Recalls Smith: “I remember they pulled that movie out of theaters while it was still earning at the time. It was doing incredibly well, and the deal that they’d made with Robin was a high-percentage first-dollar gross-a movie-star deal-and it was great, because instantly by putting Robin in the movie their pre-sales paid for the whole fucking film. So, the movie was paid for and then the movie was making money hand over fist and made over $100 million. From what I remember, Robin’s split would be even greater and he’d get a bigger percentage if it crossed $100 million, so every dollar the movie made at the theatrical box office would have to be split-I’m not sure if it was a 50/50 split-with Robin Williams.”
The film would go on to plenty of awards success, but the story about Weinstein’s ruthlessness is just another to add to the collection of tales that paint the portrait of a cruel, greedy and veangeful man. Smith’s story appears in his new book, Secret Stash.
The Daily Beast
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